Need help with dad's tank urgently!

[larrybird]

Hello all shifus..i need advice from you guys because i have no idea in keeping goldfish or big tanks..First ill provide as much information as possible.

This tank was used to house an arowana..but unfortunately it died due to some mishandling on my dad's part (he doesnt know whats pH, biological filtration etc. thats why im trying my best to help and i need all the inputs available )

Tank size is a standard 422 tank - 120gallon

1st Filtration : Eheim Pro 3
Filter Media : Not checked yet, but most probably those that came with the filter, im guessing eheim mech + substrat pro + eheim wool

2nd Filtration - OHF (dad bought this a month ago.. and pardon me because i know nothing about OHF at all)

This OHF has 4 compartments single layer inlet. Water is drawn from Eheim Pro 3 which has two inlets and the outlet is connected to the OHF.

1st Tray : Unknown looking circular thing that has sponge on it
2nd Tray : Mika Wool
3rd Tray : Ceramic Rings
4th Tray : Tray with drilled hole where the drops back into the tank (like a waterfall)

Current Livestock:
6 mid-sized gold fish (3 - 4inch)
1 large gold fish (5inch+)
2 koi-looking fish (but not koi itself)
couple of danios and white cloud minnows

Okay, here is what happened. My dad gave me money to buy gravel for his 422 tank. When quizzed about it he said he wanted the faeces of the fishes to be suctioned onto the gravel by using an Undergravel Filter. And he said this would clear the water up and he only need to suction out the dirt under the filter once every month or so.

I do not know which LFS uncle gave him this advice..but from what i understand. UGF is for biological filtration and with the goldfishes' high bio-load, the gravel would accumulate a lot of waste and there would be a spike in Ammonia / Nitrite when the gravel is vacuum or dug out by the fishes.

I understand most bros here have bare tank for goldfishes for 2 purposes. One is to prevent the goldfish from getting hurt and secondly for easier maintenance especially during water change and to vacuum the poop out.

Sorry for the long type out but heres the question
What should i do the make the tank water crystal clear? (My dad's objective).
My current thinking / solution is this:
1) UGF definitely a no-no as it would make things even worse
2) Use a submersible filter with a sufficient flowrate for the tank to pump all the poop and water INTO the OHF. OHF would be filled with Jap Mat -> Coarse Wool -> Fine Wool
3) The 2 inlets of the Eheim Pro 3 to be covered with filter sponges, hence the Eheim Pro 3 would strictly serve as a Biological filter. Reason being this, he NEVER ever washes his cannister. The only time he did that was after the arowana died, which was about 1yr+.


Therefore, which would be the best way to achieve my dad's objective? I really need the advice quickly before he gets impatient and decides to do things his way..

P.S. I will try to upload some pictures tmr morning. A big thank you for reading and all inputs will be very useful to me.

[henRee!]

A 422 tank with cannister and ohf,for me i would think that is more than enough for the filtration part.Goldfishes eats non stop and poos alot.Control their feeding and do regular waterchange.Try not to overstock them unless you are good with water chemistry.Just my 2cents,hope it helps you bro.

For the submerse filter i think get one with just the right flowrate as i believe currents are not sutiable for gfs.

I think you should read this and this articles about UGF first.

Then understand how the different filters work HERE

And also how to cycle the tank here and here

Then you will have a better understanding of the best way to achieve your dad's objective and also healthy crystal clear water

Hope this helps.

To achieve good water quality, overstocking is definitely a "No Go" for any setup, unless you do frequent water change. In my opinion, you should remove the canister filter and the gravels which are quite difficult to clean, and just maintain the OHF. The media in your OHF are more than sufficient for a good bio and mechanical filtration. Allow some time for the nitrogen cycle to kicks in. Do 50% water change twice a week and partially wash your filtration media every month with the siphon water from your tank. Hope this will help you to maintain your water clear.

[larrybird]

Originally Posted by henRee!

A 422 tank with cannister and ohf,for me i would think that is more than enough for the filtration part.Goldfishes eats non stop and poos alot.Control their feeding and do regular waterchange.Try not to overstock them unless you are good with water chemistry.Just my 2cents,hope it helps you bro.

For the submerse filter i think get one with just the right flowrate as i believe currents are not sutiable for gfs.

Morning henRee! Therefore what you are suggesting is submersible pump -> ohf and running the cannister and the same time right? Feeding and water changes..i cant control that as ill be in army..bookout only on Fridays and my dad always overfeed and never listens..

Originally Posted by FedrickFoo

I think you should read this and this articles about UGF first.

Then understand how the different filters work HERE

And also how to cycle the tank here and here

Then you will have a better understanding of the best way to achieve your dad's objective and also healthy crystal clear water

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the link Fedrick, the UGF link was particularly helpful. FYI, the tank is already cycled and has been running for quite some time already, i believe 3 months+.

I believe the bio filtration is more than sufficient with the huge cannister volume. What my dad wants is stronger mechanical filtration. Therefore in your opinion, is the 'solution' in the thread i posted feasible?

Originally Posted by Cyprinus65

To achieve good water quality, overstocking is definitely a "No Go" for any setup, unless you do frequent water change. In my opinion, you should remove the canister filter and the gravels which are quite difficult to clean, and just maintain the OHF. The media in your OHF are more than sufficient for a good bio and mechanical filtration. Allow some time for the nitrogen cycle to kicks in. Do 50% water change twice a week and partially wash your filtration media every month with the siphon water from your tank. Hope this will help you to maintain your water clear.

Hi Cyp. No i have not bought the gravel yet and is the tank currently overstocked in your opinion? I would upload a picture later for better reference.

I don't think removing the cannister filter is a good idea as it provides good bio filtration at the very least (have to make use of whatever i have now to avoid extra expenditure).

I believe the single layer OHF with just a couple of wool and one tray of CR is not going to cut it in supporting the huge bioload i suppose?

50% water change twice weekly is a good idea, ill suggest it to my dad as he does 80% water change once a week during weekend which is ridiculous..i've told him to change max 50% umpteen times but yeah..

Originally Posted by larrybird

2) Use a submersible filter with a sufficient flowrate for the tank to pump all the poop and water INTO the OHF. OHF would be filled with Jap Mat -> Coarse Wool -> Fine Wool

I think you mean a power head (submersible pump) and not submersible filter

Originally Posted by larrybird

3) The 2 inlets of the Eheim Pro 3 to be covered with filter sponges, hence the Eheim Pro 3 would strictly serve as a Biological filter. Reason being this, he NEVER ever washes his cannister. The only time he did that was after the arowana died, which was about 1yr+.

I don't think you need to cover the inlets with filter sponges.


Your suggested solution should work fine but placement of the inlet ,outlet and power head in the tank is key to success.

My concern is weather the beneficial bacteria growing in the biological medium you have now is enough (aka Cycle the tank)

After the tank is cycled I think you only need to change 25% of the water once a week.

I may be wrong but this is just my 2 cents.

[larrybird]

[QUOTE=FedrickFoo;7422018]I think you mean a power head (submersible pump) and not submersible filter

ooops sorry for the mistake.. what is the recommended flowrate of a pump thats suitable for my dad's tank?

Originally Posted by larrybird

what is the recommended flowrate of a pump thats suitable for my dad's tank?

Maybe you can take a look at this thread

But I remember reading somewhere that the ideal flow rate for freshwater tanks should be 4 to 6 times the tank capacity.(Depending on type of fish)

My 2 cents

You can try purigen...